


Down the Rabbit Hole

by CommunionNimrod



Series: I will Try ... To Fix You [2]
Category: Pacific Rim (Movies)
Genre: Hermann deals with a lot of emotions, I'm no scientist so just bear with me lol, M/M, attempted science talk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-01
Updated: 2018-04-03
Packaged: 2019-04-16 22:39:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,357
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14174886
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CommunionNimrod/pseuds/CommunionNimrod
Summary: Hermann finally meets Alice.





	1. Chapter 1

When Hermann overheard that there was a small task force being put together to go to Newt’s apartment in China to scrub the place, he absolutely insisted he must go with them.  There was initial protest, something he had been running to almost daily when it came to his former colleague ever since his capture. He had come to respect Jake Pentecost, he saw qualities of his father in him, even if the Ranger refused to admit it, but he also wanted to shake him.

They did not understand the depth and nature of his relationship with Newt.  They knew the two of them had drifted together to help end the war. They knew the two of them had worked together for a long time until they didn’t anymore.  But they didn’t _know_.  Was that why they had been trying to block him at every turn?  Did they think he was just an old colleague, one who had tried to kill him, one not worth the risk and stress?  Foolish.

After a few hours, however, Hermann wore them down.  Even without the knowledge of how close the two of them were - at one point, at least - they could not ignore the important points that Hermann continued to bring up.  He knew Newt better than anyone they could deploy. It would be a much more efficient task with less risk of overlooking or damaging good intel if he supervised.

So, two days later, Hermann was sat in a transport, staring out the window and watching the streets of China pass by them.  He tapped on his cane nervously, trying to keep himself from fidgeting too much. He used to be much more patient than this, but this was …

Well, Hermann could only hope there was vital information to be uncovered.  He closed his eyes and sighed.

“We’re here,” a PPDC soldier piped up a little while later.  Hermann felt the vehicle slowing, and opened his eyes to look out and up at the tall apartment building.  He was the first out, and halfway to the entrance doors before the rest of the task force - comprised of two soldiers Pentecost had assigned to the task, and three science officers that he had selected personally - could catch up to him.  They flashed their credentials as they approached the front desk and given the proper instructions confirming the floor and apartment number. Thankfully they were expected so the interaction was brief.

Hermann was, of course, the first person to enter the apartment.  Up until now he had been walking briskly, with purpose, but the minute he stepped inside he began to hesitate.  He took a slow breath, squaring his shoulders while everyone behind him waited patiently. The science officers had a better idea of how big a deal this was to him, and for that he was grateful.  It’s why he picked them, after all.

“Okay,” he commented out loud. “Start looking around, cataloguing things.  Keep me updated on what you find that could be of import.”

Everyone spread out then, leaving Hermann to his own devices.  The apartment was huge. He couldn’t help but smile at that, memories flooding back.

  


_“Dude, when all this is finally over, I cannot WAIT to get a place of my own,” Newt exclaimed, leaning back in his chair with a groan as he stretched out his back.  Across the room, Hermann sighed, trying to focus on his equations._

_“The PPDC has always set us up nicely, Newton,” he muttered, praying that his fellow scientist would just … stop talking for 5 minutes. “You should learn to be grateful.”_

_“Well yeah, sure, I AM grateful, but they’re just sooooo cramped,” Newt complained.  Hermann heard him smack the table, and he rolled his eyes. “When I say get my own place, I mean the biggest freaking apartment possible.  I want a million rooms.”_

_“That’s impossible within one structure, Newton.”_

_“Oh hush Herms, you know what I mean.  Massive living room, even bigger bedroom, stairs.  Dude._ **_Dude_ ** _, I’m so ready.”_

  


So Newt had gotten that wish at least.  It made Hermann wonder just when the Precursors had become the primary controller of his mind.  This apartment was definitely a Newt decision, of that there was no doubt. The decorations, on the other hand, not so much.  The art hanging on the walls were few and far between, at least so far, and too abstract for Newt’s regular taste. It was too plain.  Hermann pressed his lips together in a thin line, taking a few steps into the kitchen area, reaching to open up the cabinets.

“Um, Doctor Gottlieb?” an uncertain voice called from further within the apartment.  Hermann turned, brow furrowed.

“Yes, Sarah?” he asked.  There was a delay in response, and then he saw the young scientist appear from the doorway across the room at the top of a handful of wooden steps.  She looked uncomfortable, eyes wide.

“D-doctor, you … need to come see this,” she managed.

In an instant, Hermann was moving across the living room and up the stairs.  Sarah took a step back to get out of his way and he would have loudly burst into the room if there had been doors.  The sight made him stop dead.

The first thing he saw was the PONS helmet sitting at the foot of the bed.  Hermann swore he could feel his stomach drop hard. To his left were the familiar sounds of the PONS machine, and the even more familiar sound of …

He could barely contain the groan of dread and irritation as he turned and saw the tall tank sitting against the wall.  The same yellow, glowing liquid filled the tank, holding a massive, disgusting, somehow unsurprising kaiju brain.

“Oh Newton …” he sighed, the hurt hitting him in waves.  No wonder he had been taken over, no wonder his mind was being invaded and controlled by the Precursors.  They’d had a bloody back door for god knows how long. Hermann was furious. How could he have been so _stupid_ , so reckless, so …

His breath hitched as he saw what had been written out near the top of the tank.  The red letters practically smacked him in the face.

**Alice**

  


_“Look, why don’t we talk about it over dinner at my place?  Okay? You can finally meet Alice.”_

  


Hermann took one deep, slow breath.  Another. Then another. His knuckles were white over how hard he was gripping his cane, his hand shaking.  The tank bubbled, the brain floating up and down, stray tentacle pressing up against the side of the glass with a muted thunk.

“Doctor?” Sarah asked, behind him.  It jolted Hermann out of his paralyzing rage.

“Prep-” he started, his voice cracking.  He cleared his throat, unable to take his eyes off it. “Prep for extraction.  Call a backup team. We need to get this **thing** back to the lab immediately.  In tact. The rest of the apartment can wait.  Focus on it, and anything here in the bedroom that could be tied to it - equipment, notes, anything.”

Sarah nodding, rushing off so that she could execute the new orders.  Hermann was alone in the bedroom now, and he still could not take his eyes off the tank.  Every part of him wanted to close the distance and destroy the damn thing here and now. But he couldn’t, not yet.  He had to run tests first, see if he could learn anything that could help him help Newt. How long had he been drifting with the damn thing?  Hermann was amazed it was even still a functional brain. Not having a sustainable body to operate and live through, it should have expired after the first drift that was done with it, and if not, after the maximum ten minute window before brain death occurred.  So how?

Newt had been mentioning _Alice_ for years.  Hermann highly doubted Alice was multiple kaiju brains.  That made even less sense. So yes, unfortunately, testing was necessary.  Hermann grimaced, forcing himself to take a small step back. It broke whatever furious trance he had fallen into, and immediately he turned and left the bedroom.  He made a beeline to the connecting balcony he’d just noticed, desperately needing the fresh air.

Slamming the glass door shut after him, Hermann went up to the railing and pressed his forearms on it, leaning over and breathing heavily.  His vision blurred with hot tears, and Hermann squeezed his eyes shut to force them back. There was no time for this. He couldn’t afford to let his emotions get the better of him.  There was too much to do and too little time. Newt was counting on him. He had to stay focused, like always, and get the job done.

Hermann remained alone on the balcony until the backup team arrived and the brain was successfully being transferred to his lab, where he kicked himself back into gear and supervised the extraction to make sure nothing went wrong.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I definitely had planned this to be a series of one-shot fics. But while I had thought this was a decent stopping point to the "chapter", I had more I wanted to write, so. Onward to chapter two!!


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As the tags suggested, this chapter is where some of the science-y talk happens, forgive any inaccuracies please. I am no scientist LOL.

Hermann hadn’t slept in days.  With that infernal thing Alice now in the lab, he was there day and night, running tests and trying to keep his mind objective and focused.  Otherwise white-hot anger would take over and Hermann didn’t trust what he would do to the brain if that happened. There was still a use for it.  For now.

His first task was to figure out how it was still a living brain, and if he was lucky, discover just how long Newt had been drifting with it.  It had clearly been long enough that his body no longer showed ANY signs of the drifts occurring. No bloodshot eyes, no nose bleeds, no unusually dishevelled and manic behavior in the days following.  He did not know this personally, of course, but he had brought Liwen in to discuss Newt’s behavior while he had been in her employment, and she had confirmed such.

There were a lot of factors to consider, a lot of unknowns that made Hermann’s theories thin, at best.  It drove him mad. However, his experience with building the Jaegers, working at the training facility, and being around Jaeger pilots for as long as he had, gave him a basis to start with.

While it varied from person to person, and who they were attempting to drift with, there was a general adjustment period between 6 months to 2 years.  It was a large gap, to be sure, but humans _did_ adapt in vastly different ways.  The younger the pilot, the quicker they got control of it.  The more compatible the pilots, the stronger they became. All obvious, known information.  So, extrapolating all of that, combining it with the fact that Newt was an adult, did not train for 14+ hours a day, and that his drift “partner” wasn’t human?  Hermann’s best guess was 3, 3 and a half years before his symptoms minimized enough to not be noticable to anyone. Which meant there was a good chance he had been drifting with … _Alice_ … for over 5 years.

It was a horrifying thought.

The next question was how Newt was able to keep that thing alive and functional for that long.  How even now, it continued to float in its liquid, pulsating and wiggling about. It was disgusting.  Hermann might have started to fill both roles in the science division with Newt gone - keeping up with his usual maths and Jaeger tech, while also starting to find himself elbow deep in Kaiju guts - but he was too close to the situation as a whole for him to view this brain as just another specimen.  That he could freely admit.

That did not stop him from actively **treating** it as such, though.  He had way more self-control than that.  So first, Hermann started with the equipment the tank was hooked up to, and the minimum notes that had been found in the bedroom that related to it.  The notes weren’t much help, overall, it certainly seemed like the Precursors weren’t careless enough to leave obvious traces lying around. The equipment, on the other hand, had some promising information inside of it.  Hermann came across large bits of data within the computer that was encrypted. So that showed promise. He had spent the majority of that first day hooking his laptop up to the large computer and beginning the process of putting it through his decryption software.  A few days later and the software was still running, still breaking down data packets, but that only fueled Hermann more. For it to be this heavily encrypted, there HAD to be something there. There just had to be.

Next, came the liquid containing Alice.  For the first time, Hermann closed the distance between himself and the tank, bringing a step stool over that allowed him to actually be able to stand overtop of it.  Armed with goggles and a mask over his face, gloves covering his hands, and a large erlenmeyer flask in hand, he unlatched and pushed the top of the tank open enough that he could collect a decent amount of the liquid.

The lid of the tank was heavy, and Hermann had to set the flask down and use both hands to finally be able to tug it closed again.  The results of these tests that followed was sort of unsurprising. The liquid was comprised of formaldehyde, seawater, and alcohol.  It was as he suspected, the mixture was no different than what they would normally store kaiju specimens in.

The last big focus was Alice itself.  Hermann had to figure out the best way to really dig into what it was and how it was still living without actually causing brain death, which was frustrating.  He wanted it gone, but not prematurely. So he couldn’t actually start cutting it apart and examining it that way. The next best thing was extracting some of its blood and starting there.  So, that’s what was done. With the use of a very large syringe, Hermann climbed back up on the step stool and reached down inside until he could pierce the thing and get what he needed. He was up on his toes, arms submerged in the preservation liquid up to his elbows, and the moment the syringe pierced Alice it began to twitch in what Hermann could call discomfort.  This made taking the sample even more difficult, and Hermann gritted his teeth, trying desperately not to lose his balance. _Finally_ he got enough, and he pulled his arms out as quick as he possibly could and shut the tank once again, breathing heavily.

He closed his eyes for a moment, legs shaking as he tried to gather himself.  As he opened them again, one of Alice’s tentacles thunked against the glass right in front of his face.  Hermann couldn’t remember the last time he had moved so fast. He practically fell as he clambered down from the stool, every instinct in him screaming to GET AWAY.  He refused to set foot on that side of the room the rest of the day.

The blood was … well, kaiju blood.  He had been closely studying kaiju blood for years now, and something about the way _this_ kaiju blood looked didn’t sit right.  Hermann divided the blood amongst multiple samples, and started comparing.  He retrieved a slide of kaiju blood from his rocket thruster experiments and went back and forth.  The platelets looked and behaved the same, but that was where the similarities ended. The kaiju blood he’d had for a while had been completely foreign to him.  This new kaiju blood, however, was not. He saw … Well, he saw properties that were easily found in human blood. He could pick out the red and white cells, he saw neutrophils, lymphocytes …

“Dear lord,” Hermann muttered, watching the way the cells moved and shifted against one another.  It was slow and fluid, but every now and again he saw bursts of motion that caught his attention, but was lost in the magnification almost immediately.

Pursing his lips together, Hermann continued to watch, determined.  Then finally, he saw it. The kaiju platelets would burst through, wrapping around and absorbing the human cells.  His jaw went slack. He pulled away from the microscope, eyes wide, and looked over his shoulder at Alice. It was all beginning to make sense.  He was drawing conclusions, considering everything he had seen so far, combined with the knowledge of the Precursors’ attempts to destroy their world yet again.

His feet were moving before Hermann really thought about where they were taking him.  He stormed through the halls of the training facility, not stopping until he’d approached the closed cell where they were keeping Newt contained.  He hadn’t been back here since his first visit, but anger and urgency and scientific curiosity kept him from hesitating as he pushed the door open and stormed into the chamber.

“Aaah, Doctor Gottlieb-” Newt’s voice rang out, but it was not Newt.  Hermann knew instantly with the way he smiled, how he addressed him.

“Interesting experiment you had in your bedroom,” he spat out, interrupting them.  He had no desire to chat.

“Oh, so you FINALLY met Alice!” they beamed through Newt’s mouth. “I’ve been trying to get you over for months, man, and you went without me?  That’s just not cool.”

“That was where it all started, wasn’t it?” Hermann asked, crossing his arms, ignoring the flippant remarks.  His heart was pounding, but this was not his Newt. Keep it together. “Alice was your test. Your attempts at creating kaiju in this world.  The beginning of your … master plan, as it were.”

Silence.  Newt’s face stared at him, Newt’s smile beamed even wider, almost inhuman.  Newt’s eyes were focused on him, but not really looking at him. No, he was looking through him.  A shiver went up Hermann’s spine. He was not sure if it was noticeable. If it was, no attention was called to it.

“Knew you’d get there,” the voice said, low and menacing. “Eventually.  No use in denying it, you’d figure it out eventually. Yes. Beautiful, lovely Alice was the beginning.  The root that allowed our tree to grow. The mixing of our glorious species and your … disgusting one. It was horrible, introducing her to such gross human dna, but it was necessary.  Necessary to keep her alive, to keep our connection fresh, to keep us ever present in this world until we could _rip apart the foundations_ **_and return once again to take our proper place as the rulers of THIS PATHETIC PLANET_ **.”

Hermann turned on his heels and stormed out, slamming the door to cut off the beginnings of the Precursor’s ramblings.  It was just as he thought. It all made sense. Confident the footage had been captured, he went back the way he had come, not stopping until he was back in the familiar and mostly comforting walls of his lab.

Whether it was their arrogance or carelessness, Hermann appreciated such an easy acknowledgement of his theory.  He thought for sure he’d have to talk smarter, to trick them, but no. They were almost eager to tell him. Were they trying to rattle him, trying to get under his skin?  Or was something else at play? Was it Newt, pushing through enough to get them to confess the information without them realizing it? Was the man in there fighting, pushing their boundaries, causing their defenses to lower?  Whatever it was, Hermann was grateful.

He knew the how and the what.  He was pretty sure he knew the why (and that was not something that could be addressed scientifically, that was a whole other issue).  Now he just needed the solution. His eyes fell once again on Alice, floating on the other side of the room.  They shifted to the monitors, where his decryption software was still running intensely, cracking things piece by piece.

The solution.  Alice had to be the solution, or the start of it, at least.  Hermann could feel it in his gut. This damned brain was where it all began, and if he had anything to do about it, would be where it all came to an end.


End file.
